Motorists navigated around downed power lines and fallen trees left in the wake of Hurricane Iselle on Kahaki Boulevard in Pahoa.

HILO » Hawai'i Electric Light Co., which was trying to restore power to 17,200 customers on Friday in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Iselle, urged all customer to cut down on power consumption.

"During the storm many trees fell and knocked down power lines and poles," HELCO spokeswoman Rhea Lee said in a statement. "Critical transmission lines on the east side of the island are out of service and we are unable to take generation from Hamakua Energy Partners and Puna Geothermal Venture. This has created a generation shortage."

Hawaii island officials Friday were investigating reports of several homes that were damaged, including a roof that was blown off and windows destroyed at a home in Hawaiian Paradise Park in Puna; a home that burned down in Hilo that may have been related to the hurricane; a tree that fell into a house in the Hawaiian Acres private sub-division; and a roof that was blown off off a home in Hilo.

Denise Bailey, who lives in Orchildand in the Puna District, also told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that a tree smashed the roof of her neighbor's house and another hit Bailey's truck.

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jyorckwrote:

Hawaiian Electric and all of the island electricity companies are inconsistent, overpriced and a monopoly. I lived in Hawaii for 32 years and remember how we had outages all the time. I love Hawaii, its people, food and weather, but one of the things that were lousy was the electricity service. I feel sorry for you folks and your gigantic bills!

on August 8,2014 | 04:23PM

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Skylerwrote:

Well since they all stocked up on water, shouldn't be a problem - right?